ORIGINS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM

Zack Faja

A BRIEF HISTORY OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM

Our solar System was estimated to have begun 4.6 billion years ago The model that we go off of for the formation of the solar system is called nebular hypothesis Our Suns creation may have been prompted by a nearby supernova in a star rich area before being ejected to its current location Gravity slowly coalesced the proto-planetary disc into the various planets we know today

THE NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS

This is the widely accepted model which explains the formation of our Solar System First proposed in 1734 by Emanuel Swedenborg Proposes that:

Our sun (and other stars) was formed in GMC It takes approx. 100 million years for a star like the Sun to form The Sun was surrounded by an accretion disc which, after it had cooled, began to form the various planets Initial planetary production is quick and takes only 100300,000 years for a Mars sized planetary embryo to form this was not however a finished planet

THE NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS CONT.

Once a planetary embryo was established it would take a further 100 million- 1 billion years to become a terrestrial planet Gas giants were formed in an entirely different way and certain conditions had to be met for them to form Once these conditions are met it only takes around 10,000 years to gain most of their mass

TRITON AND SATURN

Triton is the 7th largest moon in the Solar System and the moon of Neptune Having been created from the remnants of the Kuiper Belt it is a perfect example of how gravity can created a terrestrial body Saturn, one of the gas giants in the solar system, was created outside the Frost Belt and is best know for its rings These rings are another example of the accretion disc contribution to the creation of certain bodies in our solar system

OUR MOON
Our moon was not created directly from the accretion disc as certain moons such as those which Saturn has. Instead a collision on an enormous scale occurred which ejected a large amount of rock and dust into orbit around the Earth This debris eventually collated into the Moon we know today, playing a crucial role in the Earths life

DEMONSTRATION OF THE NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS

Using Universe Sandbox

FUTURE OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM?

Ultimately the demise of our Solar System will be down to the sun In approximately 5 billion years our Sun will expand to become what is known as a Red Giant, this star will be big enough to engulf the Earth After this stage it will become a white dwarf star before slowly dying out several billions of years later, but the solar system would be far to cold to support any form of terrestrial life